Machine for decorticating flax.



W. J. HGLLIER.

MACHINE FOR DEGORTIGATING PLAX.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.12. 1910.

1,023,152.; Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

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Abbas); mantova @gm Waber J. homer Z Abb'Y J. HOLLIER. MACHINE FOR DEGORTICATING FLAX.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.12, 1910.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

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. W. J. HOLLIER. MACHINE FOR DEGORTIGATING FLAX.

APPLIOATION FILED 1120.12, 1910.

1,023, 1 52. Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

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W. J. HOLLI'ER.

MACHINE FOR DEGORTIGATING FLAX.

APPLIUATION FILED 11110.12. 1910.

1,023,152, Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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Walter d. 110mg? 2% #V 11W-@Www Abb Y l UNITED STATES WALTER J. HOLLIER, or sr. LOUIS, MIsso-UEI, AssIGNon. 0E JNE-HALE To ROBERT PATENT oFEIoE.

MCG'ORD; OF KANSAS' CITY, 'MISSOURI.

, MACHINE EOE DECQRTICATING Speciation of Letters Batent.

To all whom it may concern: i Be it known that I, WALTER J. HoLLIER, a British subject, at present residing. in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have' invented' new and useful Improvements in Machines for Decorticating Flax, of which the following is a specification. y

This invention relates to a novel machine for decorticating fibrous plants of either the leaf or stalk variety, including under the leaf plants, manila and all plants of the aloe and agave families, -and under the stalk variety, ramie, hemp, jute and ax. In the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I aim to provide more particularly for the treatment of ax; but the principle of the invention may be equally Well applied to the treatment of all characters of fibrous plants,

as indicated above,I necessitating onlyV such changes in form or proportion asvmay berequired by the nature or size of the plant.y Throughout the United States ax is veryI generally grown for the seed, and it is not usual to attempt to recover the ber from the stalk, as, -when the plant is allowed tol results in so tangling and breaking the -straw as to make it extremely difficult to do anything at all with it, and usually it is burned. Under any circumstances, however, the ber 'is only recovered in the form of tow.

So far as I am awa-re, aside' from the' present invention, there is no machine known which can be successfully used for recovering long line vber from flax of any description, that is to say, whether-harvestled while green or after going to seed. At-

tempts have been made. heretofore with various types of machines to decorticate flax for the recovery of long line ber, but all such attemptshave been commercial fail-` ures, both inrespect to the amount of `ber recovered and the amount of husk or vegetable matter removed. This statement is made on the basis of recent investigation,

and as the result of'a wide experience and many years of intimate connection with the art. I claim to have overcome the obstacles ,which have heretofore baffled the attempts of inventorsin this regard; and inordervto .give a general understanding 'of they ad- -vantages to. be derived from the emp-loy-l ment of myinv'ent-ioml'I will briefly state at this point'that by the principle of oper- Patented Apr. 16, 1912; Application filed Decanter 12,1910. f seial'No. 596,868.' I

ation I employ in the treatmentA of flax the-V outer husk or vegetable matter is crushedA and gently brushed or rubbed from about the ber, and 'at the same time without breaking the bers. I have de onstrated on a full sized machine, from ich the accompanying drawings were ma that after the flax has passed` through the machine practically the entire amount of ber is recovered as lon line ber, and the same is almost perfect y clean. The loss of ber under the most adverse `conditions has practically never exceeded two per cent.

A feature of importance in the invention is the fact that I combine with the decorticat-ing apparatus a threshing machine which i removes the heads and seeds from the flax without interfering with its passage through the decorticating device. In this way I am able to recover both the seed and the ber from the flax. In European countries it is .usual to vharvest the flax beforev it has gone to seed; or, at leash-before the seeds have fully matured. My machine is equally adapted for the treatment of such) ax, under which circumstances the threshing attachment may, if desired, be removed.

The invention, in a broad aspect, may be considered to consist of pairsA of' complemental sets vof traveling bars having an interlocking, or linter-engaging, relation,

whereby as the flax is passed progressively between the traveling hars the stalk, as a whole, isbent back and forth, crushing the husk, or outer vegetable covering, and per-v mitting the traveling` bars to ibrush the loosened material from'about the ber.

`A structural feature of importa-nce consists in locating the decorticating members so that one is in advance of the other, whereby I secure economy of material, certainty in operation, andi lightness and simplicity of construction. more enables me to combine'with the machine, in al manner to operate simultaneously therewith, a threshing attachment, this important adjunct `permitting mel't the seed, and at the same time vbranch ends of the ax in b'ettel Such arrangement further'- l to be acted on by the decorticating mecha-y l Fig. 2 is a transverse ,sectional view, throughout the entire length of t-heymachine, taken on the line 2 2 of- Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional View, -on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan view', enlarged, showing a section of the movable member of the combined holder and carrier; Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the same; Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale, at the front of the machine, taken on the line 6 6 of Fig 1; Fig. 7 is-a view partly in end elevation and partly in section of the forward decorticating member, the view being on an enlarged scale and taken on the irregular line 7 7 of Fig. 1, and including a detached sectional View of the combined holder and carrier; Fig. 8 is a broken detail View, on an enlarged scale, of the rear decorticating member, the same being shown in end' elevation, and being viewed in the direction of the arrow 8 of Fig. 1; Fig.. 9 is a sectional View through two complemental bars of the d ecorticating members, the view being on an enlarged threshing device.

scale and illustrating the manner in which the material is acted upon by said bars in operation; andFig. 10 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the lline 10-10 of Fig. 1, to betterl illustrate the Referring now to the' drawings, the frame of the machine is supported on standards y in the usual or any preferred way, and comprises longitudinal frame members 1l, and transverse beams 12, 13 and 14. Extending across the front of the machine is a main drive shaft 15, 'mounted in suitable bearings 16, and having mounted .thereon bevel gears 17 and 18. On one end the shaft 15 is provided with aloose pulley 19, and a fast pulley 20. Bolted'to the under side of the'cross beam 12, as indicated at 21, is an arched head 22 provided atopposite ends` with bearings 23. A similarhead 24 is bolted to the underside of the cross beam 13, as indicated at 25, and is provided at its opposite ends with bear-ings 26, which are in alinement with thev bearings 23. Mounted inthe-respective bearings v23 and 26 are shafts 27, on each of which is mounted, at equal'distances apart, four sprocket wheels 28, a sprocket chain 29 being'mount" ed on each corresponding pair of sprocket wheels 28. ABeneath the heads 22 and 24 `are located corresponding reversely arched heads 30 and 31, which are bolted to andy indicated at 32 (see Fig. 7). The arched heads 30 and 31 are also provided at their ends with bearings (not shown) similar to the corresponding bearings 23 and 26 of the upper heads, and in these bearings are mounted shafts`33, eachof which, in the same manner as described in reference to lthe shafts 27, isV provided with sprocket wheels 34, on corresponding pairs of which are mounted sprocket chains 35. The four shafts, 27 and 33, are `revolubly mounted in their bearings, and the outer shaft 33 has secured on its forward end a bevel gear diverging relation to each other, the pur,

pose of which arrangement will presently appear. Mounted in lparallel relationon the sprocket chains 29, and Xedly secured thereto so as. t-o move therewith, are a series of T-shaped bars 39, shown in section on an enlarged scale in Fig. 9, each ofsaid bars having a centrally-disposed, longitudinelly-extending and outwardly-projecting tongue 40. Mounted on and securedto the sprocket chains 35 so as to move therewith, are a series of parallel bars 41 complemental to the bars 39, and each of which is provided with a central longitudinal groove 42, which is adapted to receive the tongue of the corresponding bar 39. The relative arrangement of the parts is such, however, that while the tongues 40 of the bars 39 will enter the grooves 42 of the corresponding bars 4l, they will not come in contact with the bottom or sides of said grooves. v

It will be understood from theabove de scription that as the shaft 15 revolves, the

engagement of the bevel gears 17 and 36.' will cause, through the medium of the connection described, the two sets of sprocket chains 29 and 35 to travel in unison, and

yheads in approximately parallel relation it follows that a number of the' respective sets of bars will be in interlocked relation at the same time.

The device just'described constitutes one,` of the decorticating devices, which I have indicated generally by A, and will herein-v after be referred to as the forward decorticator. It will be noted that the longitudinal axis of this forward decorticator` forms an acute angle with the longitudinal .median line of the machine proper, and that the inner side of the rear end of the forward decorticator terminates substantially vat the said median line of thel machine.

The rear decorticator B isconstru'cted in exactly the same way as the forward defborticator, and a detailed description thereof is, therefore, unnecessary. A portion of the front heads 43 and 44 are shown in Fig.

, 8. On the upper outer shaft 45 of the rear -decorticator is secured a gear wheel 46,

which` is in mesh with a gear wheel 47, mounted on the lower outer shaft 48 of the lower head. Secured on this shaft 48 is also a bevel Vgear 49 which'meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 50 mounted on the end' of a longitlidinal/ shaft 51, which at its' opposite end is provided with a bevel gear 52 in mesh with the bevel gear 18 of the drive shaft. The rear decorticator is supported on the under side of the cross beams 13 and 1 4, its upper heads being bolted thereto, as

indicated at 53. The decorticator B is oppositely inclined with respect to the forward decorticator; its front end projects a slight distance forward beyond the rear end of the forward decorticator, and the .rear

portion thereof crosses the longitudinal median line.f the machine. The upper and lower sets of traveling bars ofthe decorti cator B are in all respects similar in construction to the corresponding bars 39 and 41 of the decorticator A, and for clearness of description they are`V indicated, respectively, by the numerals -54 and 55. These the. machine, and whichfis provided at in 5o bars are caused to travel in unison from the drive shaft bythe engagement of the bevel gears 49 and 50,l and the straight gears 46 and 47. I will now proceed ,to describe the means for feeding the flax to the decortica'ting de-v vices.

' Emnding-10ngaudinai1y f the machine,

and located alittle to the right of the center, as shown in Fig. 1,'isv a supporting bar 56, suitably connected to the Aframe work of tervals with a series of bolts 57, having lowerscrew-threaded end portions 58,'which have screw-threaded. engagement with the top ofA a longitudinal feed bar 59, provided bolts 57 have been turned to adjust the feed' a in'such positionbyturningthe loc '-nuts 61v up against the under side of the supporting -bar56.-- A t the rear of the decorticator A thereis mounted in suitable bearings 62a transversely .disposed shaft 63, having sevon its under side with a seriesof lon 'tudi nal grooves60. Each of the bolts 571s provided with a lock-nut 61Lso that when the bai` 59 in the proper position, it ma be held cured thereon a worm gear 64,'with which gears a'gworm 65, provided on an extension the lower outer shaft ofthe forward decoiticatorf' On the inner end ofthe shaft 63 there is secured a sprocket wheel 66.

67 indicates a race-waywhich is provided at its ends with depending 'portions-68 forming supports, and is likewise suitably supported at suitable intervals throughout its length by vertical supporting members 69,/i i

are 'driven from the shaft 33 of the forward decorticator. The race-way 67 causes the sprocket chain 73 to travel in exact parallel relation with the feed bar 59, and any slight 851 variations may be overcome by adjusting the bolts 57, as before described. Referringy` to Figs. 4 and 5, eachclip connecting two links of the sprocket chain A.7 3 is provided with a metal housing 74 in which is secured 90` a block of leather or like material 75, the outer faces of which blocks, in the travel of 'the chain 73, are caused to move in more or less close contact with the under grooved side of the feed. bar 59. The forward end '95' of th feed bar 59 is curved upwardly slightly, as shown in Fig. 2, and has mounted in its lend a grooved roller 76 (see Fig. 6) which' is forthe purpose of facilitating the' passage of the flax between -the feed bar 100 f 59 and the blocks of leather 75'. The feeding mechanism, comprised by the feed bar 59 and the sprocket chain 73, extends from- ,the front ofthe 'machine to a pointclosely side of the 105 adjacentto the inner workin rear decorticator at a. point a out midway the [ends thereof.- To the left (shown in Fig. 1) of thel feeding mechanism just described is a second similar; feeding mechanism, the'feed bar76 of which is `adj-ustably. 110

mounted from a longitudinal support 77 by threaded bolts7 8 in the samemanner as de scribed in reference to the preceding mechanism,and the sprocket chain'7 9 of which passes around idler pulleys 80 mounted at opposite -115 ends'of a race-way 81, supported by vstand'- Vards 82 on the frame ofthe machine, said chain also passingaround a sprocketwheel 8 3 which is fast on 'the' shaft 63. The racef way 81 is supported on the frame member 120 f 70 by uprights 84E The leather'blocks- 85 of the sprocket chain 79 are secured thereon in the same -way asl has alrealdy been described in reference to the sprocket chain 7 3,Y and said leather blocks move over therace- 125* way 81 in contact with the under side ofthe feed bar'76, which is groovedjin the same" '1 manner as the feed bar 59. At the front of the' machine there is pro-` `videda trough 86 anda guard 87 the bot- 13b tom of which is located a suicient distance above the bottom of the trough 86 to insure that the flax shall pass through to the feed mechanism in a relatively thin layer,

the space between the guard and the trough being indicated by 88. Mounted in opposite ends of a frame 89, which also supports the .guard 87, is a worm90, the under side of in said frame above the worm is also a shaft ,the shaft.

92 on the inner end of which is a gear 93, adjacent to which is a sprocket wheel 94, said gear and sprocket wheel being fast on 0n the inner end of the worm 90 is a small gear 95, and between the gears 93 and 95-is an -idler gear 96 which transmits motion from the former to the latter, said gear 96 being mounted on a stub shaft 97 secured to the frame 89. Mounted on a vertical frame member 98 Fig. 6) is a bracket 99 which affords a earing for a shaft 100, on opposite ends of which are mounted a relatively large sprocket wheel 101 and a relatively small sprocket wheel 102, respectively. A sprocket chain 103 passes around the sprocket wheels 94 and l102.y On the vshaft 51, before referred to,

The same comprises heads 106 suitably sup- Y ported on the frame of the machine and 1n which are mounted corresponding sets ofv revoluble shafts 107 108, having parallel `relation and being located one above the other. Each of the shafts named has secured on opposite ends thereof a sprocket wheel 109, and aprocket chain 110 is passed around the corresponding sprocket lwheels of each pair of upper and lower shafts. Each pair of sprocketchains is connected at intervals by half round bars 111, the ar- `rangement being such that in the travel of The arrangement of the sprocket chains and bars `just described provides a horizontal space between .the sprocket chains 110 in which the ends of the flax stalks containing the pods and seeds may be operated upon.

In operation the flax stalks, indicated by 116, are placed in the trough 86 and passed under the guard 87, whence they are immediately engaged by the feed worm 90, which operates not only to feed them forward, but also to separate them and prevent undue bunching of the stalks. As this feed-` ing motion progresses the stalks will pass under the roller 76 and be engaged by the leather blocks 75, which will operate not only to feed them toward the decorticating devices, but likewise will clamp the stalks between them and the feed bar 5.9 and prevent lateral displacement thereof during the decorticating and threshing operation. As the stalks move 'under the action of the sprocket chain 73 toward the rear of the machine the outer end portions of the stalks, indicated by 117, containing the pods and seeds willv pass between the two moving sprocket chains 110, the bars 111 whereof will operate to brush or pull the pods and seeds from the stalks. While this is going on the butt end of the stalks 'will have entered the space between the traveling barsI of the forward decorticator -A, and the tongues 40 of the upper set of bars will successively and progressively 'force' the stalks down into .the grooves of the complemental lower set of bars 41, which action, as will be more clearly apparent from Fig. 9, will result in bending the stalks in reverse directions v'and thereby crushing or breaking the outer husk or cuticle; and as the bars move outward toward the end of the stalks they brush or carry this crushed lmaterial with them, and this operation is repeated as the bars successively and rapidly act upon the stalks, the latter being firmly held or clamped between the leather blocks and the feed bar 59, while at the same time being carried toward the rear of the 'machine by the movement of the blocks 75. As the decorticator A is inclined toward the line of feed, it follows that the stalks,

as they are carried along, will also enter in between the revolving sets of bars so that a given length of the stalk, say two-thirds thereof, will be -acted on by the forward decorticator. The stalks continue to pass toward the rear of the machine until theirA th-reshed ends will'enter the space between the revolving sets of bars of the rear decorticatorB, while at practically the same time the ,portion of the stalks which have been decorticated will pass between the blocks 85, vand-bar 76 of the second feed device, and be carried through ,the second decorticator after passing outv of the llfirst feed device. As the'second .decoricator B is inclined to extend across theline of feed of the first decorticator, said second decorticator will thus be permit-ed to actupon the pori plants, a p'air of decorticators inc ined toward each other, the one being located in advanceof the other. a thresh'er located opposite the forward deeorticator and lin ad-- mesas tion of the stalks -,which was engaged by the feed device and not cleaned bythe rst decorticator. As. the fiber passes out of the Vdecorticatorv B and from between the feed4 -bar 76 and traveling blocks 85 itv may be, lcollected or removed in any suitable manand-seeds from one end of the stalks before suchv end enters the second decorticator. The fiber,- as it leaves the machine, is entirely clean, and is straight and untangled. By providing a slight divergence between the chains of the decorticators from the inner to vthe outer sides, I thereby secure a gradual decrease in the severity vof the decorticating action as the end portion of the flax projects farther and farther.into the decorticator.

Iclaim:v 1. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, a pair of decorticators, each comprisin two revolving sets of arallel bars, said ecorticators *being inclined toward each. other, and the front endof one being located substantially opposite' the rear end of the other, and feed mechanism for conv eyin two ecorti'cators. i

2. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, a pair of decorticators, each comprising two revolving sets of parallel bars arranged to lmove in substantially parallel planes and having a tongue and groove relation, the one decorticator being located in advance of the other and feed mechanism for" conveying `the `material sidewise in a right line successively past the `two dev corticators. Y

' 3. In a machinezfor decorticating fibrous lants, a air of decorticators, the one be- Ying locate in advance of the other, a thresher located opposite' theforward' decorticatorand in advance of the lrear decorticator, and

- into and past feeding mechanism forv conveyin material cators.

4:. In a machine for decorticatin fibrous mechanism for conveying the material sidev Wise and in a right line into and past saidv .one set being provided with a longitudinal thresher and decorticators.

5. In a machine for decorticating fibrous' feedingmechanism for conveying the vmaterial successively past the decorticators, each of said decorticators comprising two revolving sets of parallel bars arranged to the material successively past thel said thresher an decorti.

to one side of the first feeding device and extending from a point adjacent to the rear endY of the first decorticator past the rear end of the second decorticator, a thresher located in advance of the rear decorticator with one of its sides substantially parallel with the iirst feeding mechanism, and driving means for the parts named.

In a machine for vdecorticating brous stalks, -a pair of decorticators,` combined holding and conveying mechanism for carrying the stalks past the decorticators, a support for the material to be treated, and a spiral feeding device' operating in conjunction therewith to separate the stalks and feed them in av thin, even layer sidewise to said holding and conveying mechanism.

8. vIn a machine for decorticating fibrous stalks, a pair ofl decorticators,/- combined holding and conveying mechanism for carrying the stalks past said decorticators,

in a thin, even layer sidewise/to the holding and conveying mechanism;

9. -In a machine -forldecorticating fibrous stalks, a support for the material to be treated, :a splral feedin .device operating -i-n conjunction therewit to separate the stalks and feed them in a thin, even layer sidewise, a pair of decorticators located the one in advance of the other, a pair of feeding devices for conveying the material successively past the two decorticators, one of said feeding devices having a forward end located-adjacent to the said spiral feeding devices, and-being adapted lto receive the material therefrom.

10. In a 4machine of the class described, a decorticator. comprising two series of parallel bars mounted to travel throughout a portiornof their movement in juxtaposition los `and in the 'same direction, and at such time having superimposed relation, each bar of groove, and each bar of the other set being provided with a tongue adapted to enter the 5 decorticator comprising two series of parallel bars mounted on endless carriers and traveling throughout a portion of their movement in juxtaposition and inthe same direction, and at such time having superimposed relation, each bar of the lower set being provided with a longitudinal groove, \and each bar of the upper set being provided with aI tongue adapted to enter the groove ofthe corresponding lower bar, and

10 means for revolving the two sets of bars.y

12. In a machine of the class described, a decorticator comprisingtwo revolving sets of ooinplementalv bars arranged to travel iny juxtaposition and in the same direction through a. portion of their movement, corresponding ars ofthe two setshaving a superimposed tongue and groove relation,

means for feeding material between said sets of bars and from one endto the other of 2o the decorticator, and means for revolving the two sets of bars.

13. In a machine of the class described, a decorticat'or comprising two revolving sets of complemental bars arranged to travel in adjacent diverging planes through a portion of their'movement, corresponding bars of the two sets having a tongue and roove relation, means for feeding materia between said sets.of bars and from one end to the.

other of the decorticator, and means for revolving the two sets of bars.

14. decorticating device comprising two endless seriesof parallel, complemental bars having a tongue and groove relation, a plurality of the bars of each series occupying adjacent planes. v

15. In a decorticator, a plurality of superimposed movable barshaving ay tongue and` groove intermeshing relation. v

16. A decorticating device com rising movable complemental members traveI ing in substantially parallel planes for a portion of their lmovement, said members 4having a tongue and groove relation.

17. A decorticating device comprising a plurality of movable complemental bars' having a tongue andv groove relation and traveling forsa portion of their movement in substantially parallel planes.

18. In a decorticator, a combined` holding and conveying mechanism comprising a stationary, longitudinally-grooved bar,\and anl prises two revolving sets of parallel bars arranged to travel in adjacent parallel planes through .a portion of their movement, corresponding bars of the two sets having a tongue and/ groove relation, said decorticators being oppositely inclined horizontally to the longitudinal median line of the machine, the forward decorticator having its inner end terminating substantially at said median line, and the rear decorticator having its rear portionprojecting be- V yond such median line, and feeding mechanism' moving in right lines past, and in proximity* to, said decorticators, whereby the material in its passage from front `to rear of the machine will progressively enter the respective dcorticators successively from opposite ends.

21. In a machine for decorticating fibrousmaterial, a pair of decorticators, the one located in advance of the other, a pair of feed\ ing devices for-conveying thematerial successively past the respective decorticators, a threshing device located to one side of the forward decorticator, one of said feeding devices being common to the forward decorticat'or and the threshingrdevice, and driving mechanism for the parts named.

22. In a machine for decorticating fibrous material, a pair of decorticators, the one lo cated in advance of the other, feeding mechanism for conveying the material succes-l sively. past the respective decorticators, a,v threshing attachment located toone sideof the .forward decorticator. andl comprising Jtwo endless series of revolving parallel bars arranged to travel-in the same direction andv in a portion of their travel to move in adjacent parallel planes, said feeding mechanism being in part common to said threshing device and the forward decorticator.

23. In a machine -of the class described, in' combination with a decorticator, means for feeding the material to and through the same comprising a stationary longitudinallygrooved bar locatedat one side of and extending at .least throughout the length` of said decorticator, an endless carrier, and a series of yieldable contact-blocks mounted on said carrier and having flat working surfaces and arranged to travel throughout a portion of their movement with their flat surfaces in Contact 'with said bar whereby to hold the material against lateral displace-r' l ment, vhileat 'the same time carrying it l120 bodily past the decorticator. j

24. In av lmachine of the. character described, in combination with a decorticator,' means' for feeding the material tov and f through the same comprising a grooved bar locatedl to one side of said decorticating device andextending at least throughout the length thereof, an' endless carrier, a series lof yieldable 'contact-blocks mounted on said endless carrier and having flat working surfaces, a race-way extending parallel to said In testimony whereof, I have hereunto bar and in which said endless carrier moves set my hand in presence of two subscribing 10 lwlhefehy ton force the flat surfaces of said witnesses.

oc s in t eir movement into Contact wit 5 the grooved surface of said bar so that the WALTER J HOLLIER material between the bar and blocks may be Witnesses: held against lateral displacement while be- RUCE S.' ELLIOTT, ing moved past the decort-icator. STELLA HILL. 

